Linderhof

Gardening, Cooking and Decorating on the Prairie of Kansas

Welcome to Linderhof, our 1920's home on the prairie, where there's usually something in the oven, flowers in the garden for tabletops and herbs in the garden for cooking. Where, when company comes, the teapot is always on and there are cookies and cakes to share in the larder.

Friday, September 11, 2015

The Curtain Saga

Unlike the Forstyth Saga

The Curtain Saga

at Linderhof

is not about a family

But rather about windows

The windows of Linderhof . . .

And what hangs in front of them!

When we bought Linderhof 28 years ago

it came with curtains

Aqua semi sheer drapes in the living and dining room,

the downstairs hall, the guest room

white priscillas in the front bedroom

Some sort of curtains in the sunroom

And I think plastic curtains in the bathroom

Well, I had to change all of that!

And I felt that all of the windows in the whole house had to match!

So up went white lace curtains

(very reasonable at Wal Mart)

on all of the windows!

I somehow thought that all of the windows in the whole house

had to match!

The lace let in light but kept us private!

Kept us safe from prying eyes!

Then came Chapter Two of the Curtain Saga

We put drapes or "scarves" on top of all the lace curtains

Creating a layered look at the windows

A heavy layered look

Each room's drapes or scarves were more colored cued to the room decor

I thought it rather "elegant"

But then our Daughter, Sarah, reminded me that the look was rather "outdated"

Drapes and sheers (thought they were lace)

And so I took down the lace curtains

(and carefully boxed them up and put them in the attic)

Then we had the "color coordinated drapes"

in every room

Like these in the Master bedroom

Or these in the dining room

But then I decided that they were too heavy

And decided that I liked the look of blinds

White blinds to match the white woodwork

Bought and installed one room at a time

The blinds in the Master Bedroom

The blinds in the guest room

As much as I do like the blinds,

I found out that I was not a good blind cleaner

And as much as I like blinds,

I like clean blinds

Not dirty blinds

And since I felt that each room had to be the same . . .

My next "every room the same" curtains were the linen ones from Ikea

A natural color linen that went with "everything"

Very good quality for the price

And they came per pair not per panel!

The linen curtains in the master bedroom and dressing room

Then I decided that each room really had its own personality

And "drapes" belonged in the living room

While the other rooms had "curtains"

Lace ones in the dining room

Short ones in the bedrooms and bath

I kept the Ikea linen curtains in the living room

Put lace curtains back in the dining room

Kept the Ikea curtains in the downstairs hall

Since it opens into the living room

I moved the master bedroom linen curtains to the sunroom

(where the windows had been bare before)

It's the yang to the Master Bedroom's yen!

I brought the white Priscillas back to the bedroom

(not the original ones, though, I seem to have gotten rid of those

somewhere along the line)

And even though the bedroom is open to the sunroom,

I like the mix of frilly ruffly curtains with the linen and leather of the sunroom

The guest room got some Battenberg lace curtains that go up about 2/3 of the window

It's the guest room and more "casual"

The casement windows

(which are in the upstairs hall and sunroom and kitchen)

were left bare when I bought the linen curtains

I decided that I wanted curtains at those windows

(the Ikea linen curtains in the sunroom)

and these lace curtains in the upstairs hall

The kitchen windows still remain "necked"!

(But I'm thinking . . . . )

And just this week, I put up the final set of curtains

White dotted Swiss in the bathroom!

For the most part, curtains are much easier (in my opinion) to take care of

than blinds, stay cleaner than the floor length linen curtains (dust gets in their hems)

and basically are wash and hang!

I like the old fashionedness of the lace in the dining room

(For that is what both my mother and grandmother had in their dining rooms)

Whomever picked out the Master Bedroom Wallpaper thought that white priscillas were perfect for that room and so I'm paying homage to their design

9 comments:

Martha,WoW!!!There are a lot of curtains at Linderhof, dear friend!!!I, too, prefer curtains over drapes,but here on my side of the Prairie. . .we have a Western window view.It's far too hot in the afternoon for sheers. . .so drapes it is!!!I, too, do n o t like slated blinds. I use Roman Shades here. . .vacuum and done!!!Thank you for sharing and inspiring!!!Fondly,Pat

Megan, always have. Right now it is especially dark because they took out our street lights in March for street/sewer/water project. I'm sure when they put it back after MONTHS of darkness it will feel like a spotlight -- LOL!

I love how you've made it work! I too am not good at cleaning blinds. I had it in the kitchen and it was terrible. So much work to clean them, so I changed it. Now we have roller-blinds (I'm not sure if this is the right word). They're easy to clean and look great as well.

You evidently do know what you are doing and I like that you feel free to change things up when the mood strikes. Window coverings are just not my thing. I have never done a good job of it and they are not cheap. Since we have moved to a different house this past year I have left things as they are....no curtains. The master bedroom has white wood blinds and I couldn't clean them all the way up without a big ladder as the ceilings are about 15 feet high. Other than that we only have blinds in the living room/dining room to protect from the hot sun some days. Nothing else. Privacy is not much of an issue and I just love to look out at the scenery.

Your whole home makes me smile, Martha. I love every single room and the window treatments you chose to hang in each one. I'm thinking about pricilla curtains for my home somewhere and definitely adding a little lace somewhere.